<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>A Different Kind Of Correspondence by moongirls</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26587495">A Different Kind Of Correspondence</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/moongirls/pseuds/moongirls'>moongirls</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>our coming of age has come and gone [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fallen London | Echo Bazaar</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Complicated Relationships, Epistolary, F/F, F/M, M/M, not a love letter but also not NOT a love letter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 13:01:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,346</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26587495</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/moongirls/pseuds/moongirls</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In which the letters received and sent by a Celebrated Artist's Model and a Libertine Diamond-Heir of her acquaintance are collated.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Player/The Struggling Artist's Model (Fallen London), The Louche Devil/Player (Fallen London)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>our coming of age has come and gone [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1934047</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>once again this is just me flexing my writing muscles — they are weak as overcooked linguini but with work they will become al dente. (no that's not how pasta works. yes it's how muscles work. i am a biology major trust me.) anyway enough rambling have some vaguely victorian letters created for character study purposes and also because my friends would rather "facetime" and "imessage" than receive wordy letters :(</p>
    </blockquote><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>An Excerpt from a Letter Addressed to a Celebrated Artist's Model, Signed by a Libertine Diamond-Heir:</p><p>  <i>"... As you know, I’ve begun sniffing around Mahogany Hall. My days are so empty without the intrigues of the Empress’s Court. You were right, darling — perhaps I should have kept my head down and given up on the Imperial Residency. But I was bored, so bored. And you understand how it is, naturally.</i></p><p>  <i>But, yes, I’ve been spending time in Mahogany Hall, and Jasper and Frank — you’ll remember them as toughs, grunts, the Unfinished hands of the Masters — have requested my services in training a Louche Devil to… Well, I’m not quite sure what I’m training him to do, in the end. I’ve been asked to teach him to pass better among human society, I suppose."</i></p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em> To the Celebrated Artist’s Model in a Suite at the Royal Bethlehem Hotel </em>
</p><p>How in the Neath have you found a room at the Bethlehem? More to the point, why would you elect to room at the Bethlehem? No matter, I’m sure it’s something to do with a new suitor, some slack-jawed, honey-sozzled paint-dauber who’s declared you his muse. You needn’t notify me if I’ve guessed correctly; I know I have. </p><p>Regardless, onward to more important matters! (By which I mean <em> me </em>.)</p><p>As you know, I’ve begun sniffing around Mahogany Hall. My days are so empty without the intrigues of the Empress’s Court. You were right, darling — perhaps I should have kept my head down and given up on the Imperial Residency. But I was bored, so bored. And you understand how it is, naturally.</p><p>But, yes, I’ve been spending time in Mahogany Hall, and Jasper and Frank — you’ll remember them as toughs, grunts, the Unfinished hands of the Masters — have requested my services in training a Louche Devil to… Well, I’m not quite sure <em> what </em> I’m training him to do, in the end. I’ve been asked to teach him to pass better among human society, I suppose. </p><p>I tell you, my dear, this is hardly what I had expected. As you know, I am accustomed to a certain level of regard, a certain amount of respect — deference, perhaps — from my time at Court. </p><p>I’m sure you’re laughing as you read this, remembering fondly our Veilgarden days, when we kept more Bohemian company and spent all our evenings too wine-soaked by far to spare a thought for <em> respect </em> or <em> deference. </em> </p><p>After all, the image of <em> you </em> that lives in my mind is the painting that I once glimpsed, shortly before we had actually met. That Rising Artist painted it, though he was Struggling quite desperately at the time. He unveiled it briefly to me, hoping to impress me. (By then, we had been pursuing one another for quite a time, and what a time it was!) </p><p>I remember your shoulders were bare — scandalous now, yet so tame then — and your hair rushed over them like one of the Duchess’s cats, silky-dark and wicked. You’ll hate that comparison, I’m sure, since you’re a known hater of cats. No matter. I love the little bastards, so you will have to content yourself with the compliment.</p><p>But I am losing the plot here, darling — I was trying to describe my trials in banishment. Yes, I am tutoring a Louche Devil, and it seems I am doing a rather poor job of it. The problem, and I am sure you recognized it the moment you read the words <em> Louche </em> and <em> Devil </em>, is that I’m tasked with convincing him to change his ways, and I confess I have little desire to do so.</p><p>See, the Louche Devil is a delight, in some ways. Tall and handsome in an awful sort of way, which you know appeals to me. I never did like anything good for me. Terribly crass, which is fresh — I admit he brings out my more base side, but if I’m going to be disgusting, I’d rather do it here in Mahogany than in Port Carnelian, where I’ve got a governorship waiting. </p><p>Oh, pardon me, how could I have forgotten to mention it? I’m to be Governor in Port Carnelian, in case you haven’t read. You can direct all congratulations, felicitations, and adorations to my rooms above the flophouse. (And no, for the last damned time, I haven’t moved out. I can’t afford it, and you know that perfectly well. If you don’t like the conditions, you’ve always got the option to <em> stop </em> sleeping over.) But before your sobs at my forthcoming absence grow too deafening, you can go and calm down — I won’t be off across the Unterzee for a while yet, as I haven’t a ship. Seems rather essential for zee-travel, don’t you think?</p><p>Oh, but the Devil. He’s dangerous, of course. Can’t go half a minute without him making some move for my soul, but I rather like it. He’s easy, though he fancies himself a cunning creature. His only goal is my soul, and he never pretends otherwise. I can be honest around him as I am around few others, can make it clear all I want is his… Well, you can finish that sentence.</p><p>Yes, I did sleep with the Devil, and, yes, it was quite enjoyable. The only problem <em> there </em> is that now the images are all in my head, so that when I look at him bungling his elocution and acting like a child over the concept of morality I can’t help but remember that we <em> could </em> be having so much more fun, and then the next moment we <em> are. </em> I’ve been told I have poor impulse control, and of course the Devil has none at all. We can never get anything done now, and I’ve no idea what to tell Jasper and Frank. <em> Sorry, he still walks and dresses like a tatty Revolutionary, and he can’t eat soup without slopping it down his front, but at least he’s a marvelous lay now. </em> I can’t imagine they’d take that news very well.</p><p>Of course, I would offer you a turn, dear, but you wouldn’t like this one. I know your tastes by now, and you like the clever, sophisticated ones, hungry for praise and ambitious beyond their station. The Louche Devil is a little dirty for your tastes, and I don’t mean in the bedroom. I mean there’s always blood under his nails (though I won’t ask how it gets there) and I can’t convince him to clean behind his ears for love or money. You would hate it, and I can already predict you’ll make me bathe before you touch me again.</p><p>This is the part where I would say <em> I miss you, </em> and <em> Please visit soon, </em> and <em> I long for your caress, </em> and all that rot if I were one of your soppy young admirers.</p><p>But I’m not so naive as to let you get your hooks into my heart, and so I won’t say anything remotely sentimental, as I know emotions are a surefire way to drive you off. I’ll just say this — there is a former mayoral candidate of my acquaintance who has asked that I introduce him to you, and I am keenly aware of your occasional Rubbery proclivities. Reply soon, and I can make all the necessary arrangements.</p><p>Disrespectfully yours,</p><p>The Libertine Diamond-Heir</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>An Excerpt from an Already Quite Brief Note Addressed to a Libertine Diamond-Heir, Signed by a Celebrated Artist's Model:</p><p>
  <i>"My dear, you are a menace, and what’s worse, you are not the nearly the worst menace in the city. Attached is a numbered list responding to the concerns detailed in your dreadfully rambling letter."</i>
</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>To the Libertine Diamond-Heir in the Awfully Unpleasant Rooms Above a Smoky Flophouse</em>
</p><p>My dear, you are a menace, and what’s worse, you are not the nearly the worst menace in the city. Attached is a numbered list responding to the concerns detailed in your dreadfully rambling letter.</p><p>1. Don’t whine so about your banishment from court — I did warn you, and you’ve got to live with your choices and failures now.</p><p>2. You needn’t remind me about that painting; I purchased it myself and have it in storage currently. It portrays a facet of myself that I don’t currently wish to be in the public eye. (No, not in that sense. You disgust me.)</p><p>3. Boast all you like about Port Carnelian, but remember, dear, that the Privy Counsellor who obtained that position for you is hardly dependable. I won’t ask you to be careful, as it will surely encourage you to do otherwise, but at least <em>think</em> before you do the careless things.</p><p>4. You may make all the jabs you like at my affairs, but we are both aware that you will change your tune as soon as I offer to refer them to you. Our tastes are awfully similar, darling, though yours are perhaps less discerning.</p><p>5. I would be delighted to receive an introduction to the Tentacled Entrepreneur. Please do make the arrangements when convenient. And wipe that smug look off your face.</p><p>Kisses,</p><p>The Celebrated Artist’s Model</p><p><em>P.S.</em> Congratulations on your new paramour. I’ll have a good laugh when you’ve got your very own Infernal Contract.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>